You don't cook the food in the bag, you just boil water and pour it in the bag. By the time you've gotten the pot off the fire, made sure the freezer bag is open wide but won't fall over (takes a little adjusting) and pour in the water, the water is well below the boiling point. It's probably no warmer than blanched vegetables when you bag them before freezing, the standard way of home-freezing your veggies. The bag then sits in your cozy for 15 minutes or so until it is rehydrated. By that time, it's generally cool enough to eat.

Of course you can rehydrate in your cooking pot, but then you have to wash the pot!

Since I pack out everything, the freezer bag from my dinner carries the garbage for the next 24 hours. It's not a good idea to burn plastic even where campfires are legal--leaves residue in the fire ring. Aluminum is even worse and I am sick and tired of seeing fire rings full of it. I swear that half the garbage I pack out is junk that other people have left in fire rings!

The biodegradable feature of the cellulose bags, though, sounds really good! I probably should consider using them, bite the bullet and wash my cooking pot nightly!

Edited by OregonMouse (04/20/1009:22 PM)

_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

I carry my food in either baggies or folded paper packets. I rehydrate in a 3-cup Ziplock snap-top storage container (1.1 oz) with a fitted cozy rather than in a freezer bag. One freezer bag weighs about 1/3 oz; a baggie weighs about 0.06 oz. I can pack many meals in baggies for the weight of one freezer bag and three freezer bags weigh about the same as my 3-cup container. To clean the container I just put about a quarter cup of water w/ a drop of camp suds in, snap the lid, shake, empty the wash water out responsibly and then rinse. I like the rigid walls of the storage container better than I do the flexible freezer bag. I also like not having to carry dirty freezer bags in my garbage, especially on longer trips.

I can pack many meals in baggies for the weight of one freezer bag ... three freezer bags weigh about the same as my 3-cup container. ... I like the rigid walls of the storage container ... I also like not having to carry dirty freezer bags in my garbage...

I like the way you think! I'm going to do it that way, too. I've got to get my pack weight DOWN.

... the possibility of up sizing it and making my own food bags out of butcher or craft paper is interesting. ... Anything to keep from hauling empty trash around is great.

Another good idea! I don't have MS Word. Maybe you could make a sketch and scan it to show here?

Then all the packets could be stacked side by side in a container? After eating, save the paper to start your next three rock fire? That's what I would do, instead of lugging the Bushbuddy that is being mailed to me.

I carry my food in either baggies or folded paper packets. I rehydrate in a 3-cup Ziplock snap-top storage container (1.1 oz) with a fitted cozy rather than in a freezer bag. One freezer bag weighs about 1/3 oz; a baggie weighs about 0.06 oz. I can pack many meals in baggies for the weight of one freezer bag and three freezer bags weigh about the same as my 3-cup container.

I like the idea above, but I am confused on exactly what is a baggie and where would I buy them or get them. Obviously, it is a pretty lightweight item.

www.gtzip.com has plastic baggies in thicknesses ranging from about 1 to 4 mils and just all kinds of sizes and shapes and closures. From the weight listed, it seems like you might be talking about the 1 mil type thickness.

baggie is just a term for a plastic bag - like a ziploc. it' just a lot thinner than a ziploc freezer bag.

Personally I avoid them because they don't hold up to hot liquids, or just about anything - but if you are just packaging food the lighter weight sandwitch bags will save some weight over a freezer bag. - Just don't expect to pour boiling water in them and eat out of them reliably.

I've managed to already learn that the lightweight "baggies" are not good matches to boiling or very hot water. I first learned that in reheating food in the microwave and punched in a little too much time.

I haven't repeated that lesson with food, a baggie and a cozy on my lap.

The "baggie" is a sandwich or snack (2 different sizes) bag, 0.149 ml thick. The freezer bag is 0.195 ml thick. These are all "Ziploc" brand. An old package of "Glad" freezer bags is labeled as 0.203 ml thick. The sandwich bags are labeled, "not recommended for use in microwave or for storage of liquids." The freezer bags are labeled "Defrost and reheat-vent bag" and say that if done in a microwave, the bag should be placed on a microwave safe dish.

I have both a package of "Multi-Purpose Storage" bags and a package of "Heavy Duty Freezer Bags." Both are suitable for food storage and are exactly the same size and thickness. Both can go into the microwave as outlined above. Evidently the "storage" bags are designed for storing leftovers and picnic foods, while the "freezer" bags are designed for freezing. I'm wondering if there is really any difference!

I do put COLD breakfast cereal in sandwich bags, but I treat them very tenderly and, of course, do not use hot water in them. Sandwich bags might be OK for a dinner if you rehydrate food in your pot, but you don't want anything sharp (such as the ends of spaghetti noodles) inside! Of course that leaves you with a pot to wash.

Due to a couple of medical conditions, I need a freezer bag a day for garbage anyway, so I'd rather use a heavier bag for the food (which afterwards is used for garbage) and not have to wash anything.

Edited by OregonMouse (10/03/1007:06 PM)

_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

I carry my food in either baggies or folded paper packets. I rehydrate in a 3-cup Ziplock snap-top storage container (1.1 oz) with a fitted cozy rather than in a freezer bag. One freezer bag weighs about 1/3 oz; a baggie weighs about 0.06 oz. I can pack many meals in baggies for the weight of one freezer bag and three freezer bags weigh about the same as my 3-cup container. To clean the container I just put about a quarter cup of water w/ a drop of camp suds in, snap the lid, shake, empty the wash water out responsibly and then rinse. I like the rigid walls of the storage container better than I do the flexible freezer bag. I also like not having to carry dirty freezer bags in my garbage, especially on longer trips.

You've sure got me thinking there pika..

I do tend to go pretty overboard with the ziplocs, myself.

This may call for another long session of raging aspergers syndrome, spreadsheets, and gram scale fiddling to find the break even point

As long as you feel open to obsessing, consider my infamous (maybe non-famous) recycled snack bag idea. Those individual "mylar bags" sevings of snacks wash and dry nicely enough to seal with an iron for individual meal packs. I try to remember to reseal the bottom before loading with food, as sometimes that seal was stressed when the package was initially opened. Anyway, the mylar bags are lighter, and more vapor and puncture proof than plastic bags, AND they hold up to boiling water, whether poured in or surrounding the bag.

I normally set the bag into my ziplock bowl, just in case it has been punctured in handling, but they rarely leak, once sealed well.

If you do not have easy access to oodles of bags, try cutting down a larger snack food bag and heat sealing the edges to form a bag. A simple clothes iron works well.